A Little Christmas Story
by ninz
Summary: It's Christmas Day and a six year old boy goes missing. A soppy littly Christmas story with a little surprise in it! R&R, please
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes:** It's less than a week until Christmas!!!

Time to write a little Christmas Story that has been in my head (since summer, actually). Unfortunately I don't have much time for writing at the moment, so I put off continuing _Another Cold Case_ until after Christmas...

Enjoy...

**Sunday December 4th, 2005 **

It was snowing outside. Winter had hit the city with its full force this weekend; but inside it was warm and comfortable. Danny sat at the small table in Sylvia's and Rafi's apartment, feeling stuffed and lazy and altogether very content, as he watched the big snowflakes dancing outside the window, lost in his thoughts.

A voice – Sylvia's voice – pulled him back: "You want another piece of cake?"

"Nah, thanks", he refused, laughing. "I've eaten enough to last a week!"

Sylvia looked a bit disappointed. "You know, it's no fun with you. You're so easy to satisfy. By the way, you coming for Christmas? Because with Rafi back in jail…" she paused but pulled herself together to end the sentence: "…well, there's no point in cooking a big Christmas dinner with no man in the house to eat it…"

"That so?" Danny asked, smiling sympathetically and reached out to take her hand, knowing that this wasn't really about food. "Don't worry, I'll be here, and maybe next year, Rafi will be, too. Besides, you have two kids, you're not alone, Sylvia, and you know that if you need my help, you just have to call."

"Yeah, I know…" She swallowed than she smiled again. "You're welcome to bring somebody else, too, you know? A girlfriend, maybe…"

"Sylvia…" pulling his hand back Danny felt a flicker of annoyance. He'd had this conversation with his soon-to-be sister-in-law before and he wasn't in the mood to have it again.

"I'm just thinking, Danny, that…"

"Well, stop thinking that. I'm quite happy the way I'm living my life right now especially since…"

"Oh, c'mon, are you _really_ happy?"

"Yes, and if you let me finish I'll tell you why."

"I'm listening."

"I've decided to start practicing law. It's what I've always wanted to do and now I've passed the BAR exam I can."

Sylvia stared at him. "I had no idea…"

"Neither did I until today. I finally made up my mind this morning. I'll talk to my boss tomorrow and then I think I'll give notice at the end of this year…"

"If that's what will make you happy."

Rising from his chair Danny nodded. "Yes, it will. Listen, I think I better leave now, because I have a little paperwork left to do which has to be done by tomorrow morning. I don't want to mess up at my old job now." He smirked. "You need any help cleaning the dishes before I go?"

"Nah, you did enough." Sylvia shook her head. "Nicky will help me later when he's back from his friend's."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be pleased to do that", Danny joked, before hugging her goodbye. "Thank you for having me today. It was nice."

"It was nice to have you here", she replied. "…. and Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not mad at me for bringing _it_ up again, are you?"

"No, I'm not", he lied to her, "Just try to not bring it up on Christmas Day, okay?"

He felt guilty about lying to her; there was no paperwork to do, but he didn't want to discuss yet again the lack of a girl-friend in his life, and he knew that was where the conversation had been heading.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Sunday, December 25th, 2005 **

The moment she opened her eyes Sam felt miserable, like she hadn't slept at all. And that wasn't even too far from the truth because after working on a case until late last night she had come home and stumbled into her bed, exhausted, at about one a.m. It was now 6.30 a.m., and less than six hours of sleep really didn't do it for her.

_And_ her throat was hurting. Well, not really hurting but it felt like there was a lump in it and it was making it almost impossible for her to swallow. With a groan Sam turned off her alarm and considered for a moment calling in sick.

But then today was Christmas Day so she wouldn't be going to the office; that was unless Jack called because there was a case.

Of course she could still call Jack to tell him that she was sick and not able to work but that would spoil all her plans.

Of course there was never a guarantee that someone would go missing on Christmas Day, but Sam knew from past experience that they usually got a call at some point during the day and so she had told Jack that he could count on her if anything should come up.

So she was going to spend the day waiting for Jack to call.

Like every year.

There were several reasons why Sam liked to work through Christmas, the most important of which was that it meant she avoided spending Christmas with her family, or what was left of it. A close second was the extra money they were paid if they worked a holiday and finally, as she didn't have children and Vivian and Elena did, she thought it was fairer if they had the time off.

But today was Christmas Day, and Sam felt miserable. She forced herself to get up and after a shower she tried to eat breakfast. She considered calling in sick again, when she realised that she couldn't drink her coffee because it tasted horrible to her.

But Sam had a plan for Christmas – working, working, working – and she wasn't going to let anything get in the way.

The call from Jack came not long after Sam had got up: A six year old boy was missing – probably kidnapped – and even if Sam did feel sorry for the family she was thankful for the call.

"The kid has cancer", Jack told her. "And this might be his last Christmas. We'll have to find him quickly. "

"I'll be there in half an hour", Sam told her boss relieved she had something to do.

"No, I want you to go to the office and work from there", Jack said. "I'll have Danny and Martin meet me at the boy's home." He hesitated for a moment then Sam heard him clear his throat and ask: "Sam? Are you okay?"

"Yes, why?"

"You sound like you have caught a cold."

"No, I'm fine", Sam lied. "It's just the telephone connection…"

………………

Danny arrived at the scene in a bad mood. For the first time in years he felt like he had something better to do on Christmas Day than finding a missing person; he had his new family, and although it still felt a bit strange to him; it felt good, too and that was the most important thing to him.

He still felt tired – despite the two cups of coffee he had drunk earlier and it had started to snow again. The streets were almost empty at this time on Christmas Day, but even so the drive to the house where the missing boy lived with his father had been a real challenge.

"Hey!"

Danny looked up to see Martin coming towards him, his mood somewhat better than Danny's. "So sorry I had to pull you out of bed today of all days, man", Martin said, as he held out his hand to Danny, who took it, confused, and was promptly pulled into a short manly hug by Martin: "Merry Christmas, anyway."

Danny was so surprised that he was paralysed for a moment and before he could recover enough to return the gesture Martin had let him go and was, reaching into his pocket for his notebook.

"Robert Lucas, six years old, lives here with his dad. Jack and I just spoke to the father; he claims that last night he put Robert to bed at the usual time. He woke up some time after midnight and thought he'd heard something. He went to check on his son, but he was gone. Mr. Lucas called the police right away, and some time this morning they called us."

Danny bit back a yawn and wondered how Martin could be so energetic. Normally it would be the other way round; Martin the miserable one and Danny the one with lots of energy. However, there was no time to wonder about that, now; the kid was missing.

As the two agents walked up the path back to the house, Danny asked: "Where's Jack?"

"Still inside, speaking to the father. He is wealthy so it is possible we'll get a ransom demand. Although I can't understand what bastard can do this to a family on Christmas Day."

Danny shrugged. "There's all kinds of sick bastards out there. Maybe he thinks that at Christmas people will do anything to get their loved ones back, so…"

"That's really sick, man", Martin said. He opened the door and walked into the house ahead of Danny.

They found Jack in the living-room with the father and a FBI technician who was busy setting up the trap and trace in case they received a ransom demand.

"Hey, Merry Christmas", said Jack, but in a far more subdued tone than Martin had used, "Glad you're here."

"What d'you want me to do?" Danny asked, struggling to keep the annoyed tone out of his voice.

"You can help the NYPD officers question the neighbours."

That's what Jack wanted him to do? That's what he had called Danny out of bed for on Christmas Day? Danny couldn't believe it. He stared at Jack but decided it wasn't worth getting into an argument with his boss over it and turned around and left.

"Oh – Danny", Jack called after him the exact moment he reached the door. "When you're done, I want you to go back to the office and help Sam find the kid's mother; the parents are divorced."

"Got it", Danny replied, then turned to begin his work.

None of the neighbours had anything interesting to tell him and all of them were annoyed by the fact that the police had called them out of bed so early. After thirty minutes of getting no relevant information what-so-ever, Danny started to feel seriously pissed off. Despite wearing gloves and warm shoes his hands and feet felt freezing and he was sick of getting short, uncommunicative answers from unfriendly neighbours.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Danny turned around to see Martin coming towards him. "Great", he said sarcastically. "Nobody has seen or heard anything…"

Martin grinned. "C'mon. I think NYPD's got it covered now. Jack wants us to go back to the office and help Sam, there's a lot of people we will need to speak to." Martin's grin became even broader and Danny felt a sudden urge to punch him in the face. "Lot's of other people we will have to pull out of bed… although… it's after 8.30 – maybe some of them are awake now."

Danny nodded and put his notebook into the pocket of his coat, relieved. He turned to go and was surprise to notice Martin following him to his car.

"You haven't got your own car?"

Martin shook his head. "I came with Jack. I was already at the office when the call came in and so…"

"You were _at the office_?"

Martin nodded and knitted his brows as he started to explain: "I just had some paperwork to do and I wanted to take that home over Christmas."

"At that time in the morning?" Danny raised an eyebrow, and kept staring at Martin. They were sitting in his car and he had turned the heater on in an effort to get warm and clear the condensation from the windows. He waited to hear Martin's explanation before they went.

He didn't have to wait long:

"Okay, I admit it; I wanted to have an excuse to work over Christmas, because it would save me from this." Martin pulled something from his pocket and thrust it toward Danny

"It's a plane ticket."

"Yeah, to Washington", Martin said. "And I didn't even buy it myself. My father did his best to emotionally blackmail me into coming for a huge family dinner. I can't bear that this year."

"Guess now you won't have to…" Danny grinned. The heater in the car was now on full power; he put the car into gear and started to drive to the office.

………………

Sam was pretty sure that she didn't just have a bad cold and she suspected that she could forget about getting rid of it any time soon. She had tried to drink some coffee again when she had arrived at the office but it still hadn't tasted good, and so she had made herself some tea and sat down at her desk to start doing her work; background checks on both of the missing kid's parents, trying to get a hold of the mother.

The sound of voices made her look up from the computer screen. She was the only person in the office and so it had been silent for the last hour; she was happy to see Danny and Martin approaching; Martin was wearing a big grin all over his face, but Danny was looking rather pissed off.

"Hey, good morning sunshine!" Martin moved to hug her, but Sam raised her hands.

"You'd better not do that – I think I may be contagious. I have a cold", she explained.

Martin was stunned for a moment but then his grin returned and he ruffled her hair, ignoring her glaring at him. "Well, okay then… merry Christmas!"

Sam couldn't help a smile. It was good to be getting along with Martin again; actually they were getting on even better than they used to; before and during the time she had tried to have a relationship with him. Sometimes she thought she should have never let happen – them getting together – but mostly she didn't regret it. If anything they both had learned from that experience.

Her eyes wandered to Danny. He wasn't looking as happy as Martin and Sam wondered why. Over the years the two of them had made it a habit to spend Christmas together even after the working part was done; they would go out to dinner – sometimes in the middle of the night – and would have a long conversation about how nice and relaxing it was to not having to go to annoying family dinners with family members you just saw once a year and you who you didn't have a clue what to say to them.

This year, however, Sam had the feeling that things would be different. She smiled at Danny and he smiled back; wishing each other a merry Christmas without words.

Martin had taken a seat at the conference table and cleared his throat to get his colleagues' attention. When Sam and Danny joined him he started telling them about what he and Jack had found out about the boy and what had happened in the night:

"The father says he heard a noise in the middle of the night that woke him. He didn't think it was in the house, but still decided to check on his son; when he came into his son's room he found the bed empty…" Martin paused and Sam knew him well enough to know that he already had a theory about what had happened and that he was going to share it with them soon: "Sam, were you able to get a hold of the kid's mother?"

"No, I tried to call her and I also had two police officers go to her house but she wasn't at home…"

Martin nodded slowly, the grin was now gone and he had a concerned look on his face. "That makes the mother our main suspect."

"Why?" Danny asked, looking confused. "Just because the parents are divorced?"

Martin shook his head. "No, more because of the reason why they are divorced. And also because the father has told her to stay away, although it could be the kid's last Christmas."

"And what's the reason the parents got divorced?" Sam asked, impatiently.

"He wanted her away from the child. They had disagreements about how to deal with their son's disease. The father told us she was always taking their son to so-called miracle healers; most of them, no, _all of them_ were frauds of course. But Mr Lucas says his ex-wife believed in them and spent a lot of the family's money on them – still, that wasn't the actual problem." Martin paused.

"So?" Sam asked, slightly annoyed by the fact that she had to ask for every little piece of information.

"The problem was that she was always getting the boy's hopes up and then he would be depressed afterwards when it didn't help, and every time it just got worse and worse. Finally the father put an end to it. Now she has to keep away from the child."

"That's pretty hard – separating a mother from her child…" Danny said.

"Well, maybe in this case it was better", Sam said. "For the child I mean. It seems like the mother was really crazy…"

"Crazy or maybe just desperate", Danny replied, looking doubtful.

He was obviously feeling pity for the mother and Sam wasn't really sure why. He was usually the one who would say that anything was okay as long it was the best for a child.

When Danny noticed Sam looking at him he smiled and said: "I know what you're thinking, but then, how can you be sure what's best for the kid in this case?"

Before they got a chance to discuss this any further, Martin said: "However, we need to inform Jack about what we know and that we can't find the mother. He'll decide whether we'll concentrate on finding the mother or if there's anybody else we need to check out."

"Does the father have any enemies?" Sam asked.

Martin shrugged. "None that he could think of, or that he would tell us about… He's a publisher of a political magazine, though, so maybe he has made enemies that he doesn't want to tell us about…"

"Or he doesn't know about", Danny added.

Martin nodded. "Yeah, maybe. Listen, I think we should give Jack a call now and tell him that the mother is missing, too. We'll have to look into the father's life… and we might have to call everybody who works for him…"

"Damn it, not anymore more of this… I can't take anymore people grumbling at me today", Danny said, rolling his eyes surprising Sam again. She moved over, close enough to nudge him, and asked:

"What's wrong with you today?"

He looked at her. "Why?"

"You're so grumpy."

"Sorry", he said and smiled at her.

Sam smiled back. It was only when she noticed Martin looking at her and then at Danny and at her again, that she realised she had been staring. Wondering what was wrong with her, she tried to concentrate on her work.

"Well, I'll take the father's employees then", Martin said, but didn't move. When he got no answer he added: "That means you two can concentrate on finding the mother."

Finally Sam looked up at Martin and gave him a quick smile. "Fine. Good luck."

………………

It was five in the afternoon when Sam's headache came back, and she looked up from the magazines she was reading. Jack had asked her to look through the latest editions of the father's magazines to see what it was about and if there was anything out of the ordinary.

They hadn't found a trace, yet, neither of the mother nor of the child. Danny had interviewed the mother's parents, but they hadn't heard from their daughter, either. Sam felt frustrated, unable to keep herself from thinking about the poor, worried father who was at home, waiting for his son to return. On Christmas Day.

"God, you look rough…"

Sam jumped at Danny's voice coming from behind her. She sighed as she turned around to face him, feeling relieved by his presence. Normally she would have thought of an answer but this time she couldn't.

He looked at her, sceptically. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine", she said, but she knew it wasn't convincing. She wasn't fine at all; and he knew it. She was exhausted and had a headache but she couldn't be sure if it was this or the case that was making her feel so vulnerable and sad.

Being Danny though, he had noticed that she wasn't feeling well, and that she needed a little help. He moved closer and gently laid his hand on her shoulder. "You're tense…" he said.

It took all of Sam's willpower to not move her head closer to his hand, as she suddenly wanted more of his gentle touch; she just wasn't sure if it was such a good idea.

However, Danny didn't seem to mind. He let his hand rest on her shoulder for a while, gently kneading her tense muscles before he bent down until his head was next to hers and suggested in a low tone: "How about you take a short break from this and I will give you a proper massage…"

Her inner voice was screaming no, but Sam couldn't help but nod. A moment later he started to massage her, gently at first, then a little more firmly. She could really feel her muscles begin to relax under his touch, making her feel sleepy… until he stopped.

"Ow… don't stop."

Danny smiled as he took a seat beside her at the conference table. "I had to", he said, a grin spreading across his face. "You were almost falling asleep…"

"Well, it was actually really good, I've never had such a good massage." Sam knew she was probably going to regret this later, praising Danny too much was never a good idea, but she couldn't help it.

And of course he proved her right: "Yeah, well, not many people know how to give a good massage, you know", he told her in a mock serious tone, making Sam laugh.

"And of course, you do."

Danny didn't answer; instead he just grinned. They sat next to each other in silence for a while but neither could concentrate on their work. Sam watched him from the corner of her eye as gradually the grin disappeared from his face and he began to look every bit as stressed as she had felt earlier. She reached out to touch his arm.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Me? What about me?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" The grin was back, but half-heartedly this time. "I just… I wanted to spend Christmas with my family this year… you know…"

"Oh", Sam said, feeling suddenly hurt. She had been looking forward to their traditional Christmas dinner together in a cheap restaurant, talking about everything and nothing, but he obviously wasn't.

Danny turned his head and their eyes met and he obviously realised what she was thinking. "Oh, sorry Sam; it's not you, it's just that…"

"You wanted to spend Christmas with your family. I understand that. I really do", Sam said, and it wasn't a lie. Not everybody was happy to use any excuse to stay away from their family. Like she did. Or Martin. Suddenly Sam had to grin.

"What?" Danny asked.

"You realise I'll probably end up celebrating Christmas in McDonalds with Martin", she said and laughed at the thought. "That is – of course – if we find this kid before then…"

"I hope we will", Danny said, in a tired tone that caught Sam's attention

"You're looking pretty bad, too", she said.

"Oh, thanks."

She shook her head. "Sorry. That wasn't what I meant; I just thought… Why don't I give you a massage?"

Danny shook his head. "I don't like getting massages."

"Well, it might do you some good…"

"Can you give a good massage?" Danny asked, clearly doubtfully. "It's a real art, you know… not everybody is good at it."

"Yeah, right, you're just trying to say that nobody is as good at it as you are…" Sam rose from her chair, suddenly determined to do as she had said. She stood behind Danny and laid her hands on his shoulders not surprised to find that it felt good to her. Maybe it was just the feeling of being close to somebody, the friendly touch between two close friends, but as she slowly started kneading his muscles, she was suddenly and shockingly aware that it was something else, something more, something…

"Ouch!"

Sam winced. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even realised what she was doing and how rough her kneading had become. Feeling guilty she bent down, mumbling a low: "Sorry", when her mouth was next to Danny's ear, and she wondered what she was doing.

He turned his head and their eyes met. "It's okay. It's just the reason why I don't like getting massages. Not everybody…"

"… is good at it I know", Sam ended the sentence for him. "I am sorry for…" Her voice trailed away, as she was captured by the moment; the look in his eyes telling her to come closer… she leaned in until their lips met in a gentle kiss.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Sam felt nervous. It was her first day in her new job and she had no idea what to expect. She remembered what Agent Malone had told her during her interview, two weeks earlier; it was hard work, the days were long and cases often ended badly; but that the cases that ended well made it all worth while._

_He had explained that she would be working in a team that had four members including herself plus Malone who was the SACand she was very curious about…_

"_Oh, I'm sorry", said the young agent she had bumped into. He looked at her, obviously confused as he had never seen her before. "You're new here, right?"_

_Sam nodded, lost for words and feeling a bit embarrassed. Since when was she so shy? _

"_Can I help you?" he asked._

"_I'm looking for Jack Malone's team", Sam said._

_She looked at the young man; she guessed that he was about her age; tall, dark haired and good-looking, yet she didn't like the grin on his face; it reminded her of that boy who used to live next to her when she was a kid. He had always worn a look like that whenever he was planning one of his 'jokes'._

"_Jack Malone, Jack Malone…hmm, don't know…" he said. He turned around and shouted: "Viv, you heard of a Jack Malone around here?"_

_Sam felt sweat pouring down her back. What if… no, she had to be right. This was where Malone had told her to come to._

_A small African-American woman turned around and shook her head. She stood up and walked towards them. To Sam's relief she was smiling at her. "Special Agent Spade?" _

_Sam nodded, reaching out to take the other woman's outstretched hand: "Yes."_

"_I'm Vivian Johnson, your new co-worker." She motioned to the man. "Danny Taylor, also with the team." She must have seen Sam's unhappy face: "Don't worry, you'll get used to him."_

"_I'm not always like that"; Danny Taylor said, still grinning broadly._

"_Yeah, probably only when you have a good victim like me; young, nervous, female…"_

"_I'm sorry, really!" he said, holding out his hand. Sam took it, and even though she still felt pissed off she got the feeling that they would get on._

The moment Sam felt Danny's lips touch hers she knew this was a bad idea and yet she couldn't seem to pull back, as more memories began to go through her mind…

_Sam felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest as she sat upright in her bed, shaking and breathing heavily, images of the nightmare still vivid inside her head. It had happened all over again; she was back in that book store, a hostage, unarmed and helpless, sweating and fearing not just for herself but everybody around her too._

_As soon as she had calmed herself enough to think, she reached for her phone and before she knew it she had called Danny's number. _

_He took a while to answer and Sam had started to think that he had turned his phone off. _

"_Taylor…" He sounded sleepy and Sam realised that it was two am – a time even Danny Taylor would usually be asleep._

"_Danny… its Sam."_

_He didn't answer at first, then: "Are you okay…?" He didn't sound angry at being woken up, just worried, and Sam felt herself start to calm down as she explained; _

"_No… I dreamt about being shot… again…"_

"_You want to talk about it?" he sounded concerned. _

"_Yeah, can I come over?" she asked._

_Danny hesitated before he answered: "I tell you what; I'll come to your place. I can be there in thirty minutes if you want me to."_

"_Yes", Sam whispered. "Thank you."_

"_No trouble", he said, and she could hear that he was smiling. "You hungry? Want me pick up something to eat on my way?"_

"_No, just come here, please…"_

Sam had heard it before; how simple friendship could turn into more. She had never really believed in that; there were those guys she considered a possible partner, others were just always friends.

Danny had always belonged to the second kind.

_They were sitting at the conference table; just Sam and Danny. He was looking at her. "So, you and Marty you seem…'', he paused, as she looked up from her work, then he continued, a little hesitantly: "… well, you seem something…"_

_Sam's answer was just as hesitant even though she knew she could trust Danny, "Yeah, we are…"_

"_Good", he said. He obviously thought she didn't believe him because he continued, "It is good, Sam", he waited a moment and then he asked the question she had dreaded: "Why are you hiding it?"_

"_Just…" Sam paused, trying to find an excuse not to talk about it now; at least not at the office and not when they were in the middle of a case. _

_She was saved by Danny's phone ringing, and the moment was over._

Sometimes things can change in a single moment. This was such a moment. Sam could feel that Danny wanted, no _needed_, this as much as she did, as he pulled her so that she was sitting on his lap. She slipped her arms around his neck, as she ran her fingers through his hair and their kiss deepened.

_It was late and Sam was surprised that Danny had come back to the office. She had expected him to go straight home after he and Jack had found Eric Miller trying to hang himself in that garden. _

_Jack had called earlier and had told the team that Eric was going to be okay, and they had all felt relieved; this case had gotten to all of them. _

_But Danny had seemed more affected than any of them. Sam had been on her way out when she had met him as he emerged from the elevator and when she had looked at him she had known that she couldn't just go home._

_He had looked… so down. She couldn't just leave him like that._

_So now she was pacing up and down the hallway, not yet daring to walk up to Danny and try to talk to him. She could see him sitting at his desk, eyes fixed on his computer, jaw clenched; no emotion showing on his face. _

_Finally she pulled herself together and walked over, causing him to look up at her, surprise showing on his face: "Hey! What are you doing here? I thought you were long gone."_

"_I could say the same about you", Sam replied. "Didn't you mention something about having a date tonight?"_

_Danny shrugged and gave her a half-hearted grin. "I cancelled it. I don't know her very well, yet and I wasn't up to an evening of small talk. Not what I need tonight."_

"_Well, maybe you need a friend you could talk to, then?" Sam suggested, and after a few long moments Danny nodded._

Danny's hands were cold on her back, as he slipped them under her shirt causing her to shiver, even as she enjoyed his touch.

_It was part of the job. Things like this could happen. Sam had been shot, so had Jack and so had other agents Sam knew._

_But this was different._

_Never, ever had Sam feared for the life of somebody like she was now fearing for Martin's. She had work to do; they were trying to find Dornvald, Martins… murderer? But she couldn't concentrate; her mind was racing and her whole body was shaking._

"_Sam."_

_She heard Danny speak but she couldn't react. What if Martin died? There were so many things left unsaid between them, so many things she still needed to put right and…_

"_Sam? He's going to be alright."_

_Where did Danny get the strength from, to try and comfort her, how was he doing it? She couldn't do it. _

_She didn't feel like being comforted. She just felt like… everything was ending. Or it should end. She could hardly put into words the thoughts racing through her head._

"_He's been in surgery for over five hours…" _

_Danny moved closer. She knew he was going to touch her. She didn't want to be touched. She couldn't help it, even if it might hurt him, she held up her hands, ready to push him away. "Nobody will tell me what is going on. I just…" Speaking became harder, as she felt a lump in her throat and tears welling up. "You know what? I just need a minute." And she walked away from him._

………………

Danny felt Sam tense in his arms, and she pulled away from the kiss. "This is a mistake." For a moment she remained sitting on his lap, then she moved over to the chair she had been sitting on earlier.

"I'm sorry" Danny spoke automatically, forgetting for a moment that it had been Sam who had kissed him first.

Sam shook her head. "Don't be." She sighed, staring past Danny, out of the window.

"What's wrong then?" Danny asked as he reached out to take her hand. He gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb but wasn't surprised when she pulled away.

"We can't do this", she said. "I mean… I can't do this. Not again."

"You mean, not with me?" Danny asked, feeling hurt. He was confused. Until five minutes ago he hadn't even known he had wanted this, and now her reaction felt like he was being punched in the stomach.

"Yes… no…" Sam stuttered. She sighed deeply and he could see she was as confused as he was. "I want it but I… I can't."

"Why?"

"It's just… I've sworn to myself that I'll never get involved with somebody I work with; not again… I can't do it, I'm sorry Danny."

"What if I didn't work here anymore?" he asked.

Sam looked at him. "You wouldn't give up this job. Not for me – or would you?"

Danny hesitated, then he spoke slowly: "I already have."

Sam stared at him, unbelievingly. "What?"

"I gave Jack my resignation a few weeks ago. I leave at the end of this year to start working for a law firm. I asked Jack not to say anything."

"You did what? When? Why?"

"I was going to tell you…"

"When? When you'd already gone and we were wondering where you were? Or on your last day; 'Oh, by the way, I won't come back tomorrow, but you'll get on without me' or what?" Sam's voice sounded angry now.

Danny didn't know what to say. Thinking about it, he wasn't really sure why he had wanted to keep his resignation a secret. "I just… I didn't want to talk about it. It's not that easy for me to leave, you know, but being a lawyer was always my dream… It's time to make that come true…"

"And you didn't think we had a right to know? Danny, we're your _friends_; everybody in this team respects you. Hell, we _love_ you. – in some way", she added, looking sad, confused and angry all at the same time.

Danny almost felt ashamed. He knitted his brows, staring at his hands for a moment before he looked up and into Sam's eyes. "Yeah, I know. Maybe that's the reason I didn't want to tell you. Maybe I just thought… I was afraid I'd change my mind. Or that you would make me."

"We would never do that", Sam said indignantly. "We would have respected your decision."

"Doesn't seem like that _now_", Danny's muttered comment was the last straw for Sam;

"You didn't seem to think it was necessary to _tell_ us. _That's_ why I am angry. Danny – _why_? Don't you _trust_ us?"

"I didn't think you'd want to straight away. It was hard enough for me I kept thinking about…"

"Well but that's _our_ decision."

"No, I actually think it's my decision, when or what to tell you."

"I really… I don't know what to…" Danny was almost relieved when Sam was interrupted by the sound of her cell phone ringing. She answered it in a harsh tone. "Spade. – _What_? – Okay. We'll be there in twenty minutes." She hung up and put the phone back into her pocket. Then she looked at Danny and told him in a cold voice: "Guess, we will have to continue this conversation later. We'll have to go now."


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:** This was planned to be a casefile story, but it turned more into a romance story. I hope you don't mind. But I always kind of liked the pairing, and so I thought now was the time to write this.

Since I forgot the disclaimer at the beginning of it; I just wanted to make sure that everybody knows, I am just borrowing the characters because if they were mine, they might have got together a long time ago...

…………………

Chapter 3

Martin had been pacing the hospital corridor for ten minutes now, not caring that Jack kept shooting him annoyed glances. They had received a phone call from the NYPD earlier, telling them that the hospital had called to let them know they thought they may have the missing boy. The story about the kidnapping had been all over the news and they had all hoped for something like this to happen.

Martin sighed; he knew they would all feel better once they could confirm that it was the boy they were looking for, but when he, Jack and the anxious father had arrived at the hospital they had been told that the boy was being examined and they'd have to wait until the examination was finished before they could see him.

Martin heard Mr. Lucas sigh nervously and saw Jack look at his watch again.

"Hey!"

Surprised, Martin turned around to see Sam and Danny coming down the corridor toward him; they were both looking as surprised to see him.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked and when Martin told her, she smiled.

"So, they informed you, too? Guess, everything is a little chaotic today, isn't it?"

Martin nodded. He was glad to see Sam and Danny. The good mood he had had that morning had vanished over the day, as more and more time was passing and they weren't able to find the missing boy, and now he was so anxious it was good to have his co-workers around. They were probably the best friends he had.

But he could sense some sort of tension between them, a tension that hadn't been there earlier, as if something had happened; something he didn't know about.

Knitting his brows, Martin shook his head at himself. No, he was probably just imagining it,

but he noticed that when Sam walked over to Jack, she avoided looking at Danny. And Danny was behaving somewhat strangely; when his eyes met with Martin's he quickly broke the eye contact to look at his watch and asked: "What's going on here?"

Before anyone could answer a young doctor approached them. Martin guessed her to be about thirty years old; she was very pretty and she was smiling at them.

"You can come and see him now", she said to Jack, guessing that he was the one in charge.

Jack nodded and turned to the father. "Look, I think it's best I go in first and make sure that it's him, and find out what happened here, okay? As soon as we know for sure you can come in too."

Mr Lucas rose from his seat shaking his head. "I want to see my son now!" he demanded and Martin couldn't blame him.

Jack remained calm. "You will, as soon as I know this isn't a mistake." When the man looked about to protest Jack added: "Mr Lucas, I am almost sure it is him, but there is a sick child here, who is being examined, and it's always scary in a hospital for a kid, and if it isn't your son, the last thing he needs is another bunch of strange people staring at him"

Finally Mr Lucas nodded, but he didn't sit down again. "Okay, but please hurry – all this waiting makes me…" his voice trailed away, and something bad happened; something Martin hated to see; a grown man was crying.

Jack nodded and he and the doctor walked down the corridor to the boy's room and closed the door behind them; a moment later it opened again and Jack came out.

Everybody was staring at him as he smiled and nodded, and Martin felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. He felt the beginnings of tears in his eyes as he watched the father rush towards the room; he, Danny and Sam all craned to see the reunion of father and son.

………………

This was the hardest case Sam had ever had to work at Christmas, and she couldn't have put into words how relieved she felt as she stood in the small examination room, watching the father hold his son in his arms crying happily.

Fortunately, she didn't have to.

They were all gathered around listening to the young doctor: "We examined him and it seems that he is totally healthy; I can't explain why, though, because we were told has cancer but he doesn't."

There was a window at the back of the room and a chair next to it. On the chair sat a woman who Sam recognised as the boy's mother. She had a smile on her face, not caring that her hands were cuffed.

When she noticed Sam looking at her she smiled; "It's a miracle isn't it?"

Sam nodded, aware of the lump that had appeared in her throat, and feeling as if she was about to cry, too. She felt an arm being wrapped around her shoulders as, wordlessly, Danny pulled her close to him. She couldn't believe how angry she had felt earlier, and now all of those feelings had vanished. She slipped her arm around Danny's waist as she broke eye contact with the mother, and stared out of the window and into the dark winter sky. It had begun to snow again; Sam was overwhelmed by it all and couldn't hold her tears back any longer.

"I guess…", she was finally able to say in a throaty voice, "…I guess, there still are miracles happening…" Her eyes wandered back to the woman by the window.

"It's Christmas", she said and Sam nodded.

Danny pulled her even closer, and she snuggled deeper into his embrace until Jack spoke.

"C'mon lets go", he said as his eyes lingered on the sight of Sam and Danny in each others arms, "Let's give them some time on their own."

Once they were all out of the room Jack turned to the young doctor: "Is there a cafeteria or something?"

She nodded. "What about the mother?" she asked.

Suddenly Sam started to feel very sorry for the child's mother. After all, she had just tried to help her son; no, she had helped him, although Sam still found it hard to believe what had happened. Nonetheless she was sure that it was all due to the child's mother, who had even risked being arrested just to be there for her child. Sam looked at Jack, waiting for his answer:

"I am going to place a police officer in front of the room to make sure she stays where she is. She kidnapped the boy, we can't just let her go, but for now I think we should give the family a moment alone."

"But Jack she was just…"

He interrupted Sam before she could end her sentence. "I know, Sam, and I am sure they will figure out a way to keep her from being punished for that… but it's not our decision to make. We just follow the law."

Sam nodded.

"Let's go", said Jack.

Soon they were all sitting in the cafeteria, sipping coffee. It was late on Christmas Day and the place was almost empty. When Danny excused himself, saying he needed to use the bathroom, Martin and Jack both stared expectantly at Sam.

"Don't ask", she said. "It just happened."

"Today?" Martin wanted to know.

"Yes, today."

For a long moment none of them said a word. The doctor, who had joined them while she was on her break, stood up and excused herself, giving Martin a lingering look and a smile before she left, and then the three agents were alone. Finally Jack sighed and spoke:

"Is it serious?"

Sam shrugged and shook her head. "I don't… I mean, _we don't_ know yet, but I am dying to figure it out."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, you should." He paused then added: "I am happy for you; what ever you decide is right for you two."

"So am I", Martin agreed his voice firm and honest, and Sam had never felt so happy.

When Danny returned a few moments later he was talking on the phone. He walked over looking down at Sam and interrupted his call for a moment to ask: "You up for some dinner and a little family Christmas celebration?"

Sam nodded and Danny spoke into the phone: "Erm… Sylvia, would you mind if I did bring a guest?"

"I hope she has enough food; I mean she didn't expect me, did she?" Sam asked, after Danny had ended the call, and had sat next to her.

"No, but I am sure there'll be enough food, and even if not; I'll be more than happy to share mine with you…" He looked up and at Jack and then at Martin. "I take it you know…"

"Yeah, well, kinda hard not to notice", Martin said, a grin spreading across his face.

Danny just smiled, finished his coffee and rose, reaching out his hand to Sam "We have to leave", he explained.

Sam had never felt so happy, as she grabbed his hand and let herself be pulled up by him, before they made their way towards the door. When they were almost outside she heard Martin call after them: "Merry Christmas!" and she turned around one last time to wink before she and Danny walked out of the building into the cold night.

………………

"Well, I better get going, too", Martin said to Jack; they had sat silently at the table since Danny and Sam had left.

"You got plans?" Jack asked.

"Other than to go and try find that doctor again and maybe ask her out? No." Martin said, laughing.

Jack grinned. "Maybe you should do that. It was obvious she was interested."

Thinking for a while Martin finally shook his head. "Nah, I am happier alone at the moment."

Jack looked doubtful but left it at that. He waited a moment then he asked: "By the way, how do you feel about Danny and Sam? I mean, you and Sam… you once were…"

"That's the past, Jack", Martin interrupted his boss, quickly. "Sam and I – that was… well, not a mistake, but it's over, and that's good………..for both of us. I am happy for the two of them, I really am."

Jack nodded, slowly. "So am I, I think. – Okay, let's go then. You gonna drop me of at the office?"

"You wanna go back to the office?" Martin asked.

"Just to get my car."

"Oh – alright."

Martin took Jack back to the office as he had said and then drove on towards home. It was snowing and he had to drive slowly, but that didn't keep him from being in a good mood. He turned on the radio, listening as they played: "_Have yourself a merry little Christmas…_"

And that was exactly what he wanted to do tonight.

He considered passing by the hospital the next day to see, if the young doctor was there…

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing. He answered it cheerfully expecting it to be anybody but…

"Martin, it's your father."

_Damn_.

"I just spoke to Jack Malone and he said your case was solved. He also said, that you're going to get tomorrow off, no matter what happens so… I am expecting you to be here later tonight."

"Dad, I missed the flight."  
"I know. That's why I did everything I could to get you another one. You will have to hurry."

For a moment Martin considered refusing, but he knew how senseless it would be and so – with a sigh – he agreed. Being with his family may be difficult, but how bad could it be?

It was Christmas, after all.


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Sunday, December 23rd, 2007**

Danny was in the bathroom, buttoning his shirt when he heard Sam call out: "Danny! Hurry up for God's sakes! We're late!"

Danny smiled as he called back: "Why don't you start making your way to the car? It'll take you long enough! By the time you're there I'll be ready anyway!"

"Haha, very funny", he heard her mutter, just loud enough for him to hear it.

He grinned knowing she wouldn't take him seriously, but he couldn't help teasing her about how about how big she had become. However there were rare moments when she would complain about how she felt like a whale, and how unfair it was it was that it was woman who had to go through the nine months of pregnancy. When she did he kept his mouth shut as she would tell him things like: "You could never go through this. If it was you, we'd never be able to have a child."

Tidying his collar and running a hand through his hair – because neither comb nor hair brush were anywhere to be seen – he took a short look at his reflection in the mirror and then hurried to find his jacket and get to the car.

Sam was sitting in the passenger seat, waiting, looking at her watch and then at him with her eyebrows raised. Danny shrugged.

The drive to the restaurant took them ten minutes, and after he had parked the car Danny decided it was time to be a gentleman. He jumped out of the car and jogged to the passenger side to hold open the door for Sam and then help her out of the car.

They headed inside the restaurant, both looking forward to this evening; seeing all of their former team mates again. Sam, of course, had seen them all a few days ago, and she planned on returning to work as soon as she could after the baby was born, but Danny hadn't seen them all together in almost two years. And – with a sense of shock – he realised that this might be the last time they were all together.

They were all already there – of course. Sam had told him a thousand times that evening that they were going to be late.

Vivian was the first to see them and her face lit up. "Sam! Danny! Hey, over here!" She took a moment to look at them. "God, you look great, both of you!"

Danny thanked her with a smile and returned the compliment as he bent down to give a short hug. He had missed her, but both their schedules had made it impossible for them to get together for months.

Vivian had been promoted to run her own team six months ago. Danny was proud of her and at the same time sad he wasn't there to see how well she was doing in her new job.

"How's the job?" Martin asked, as he pulled Danny into that short and uncomfortable hug, he had taken to use every time they saw each other lately.

Martin was spending his last day in New York. He had got married only a month ago and was now living in Washington, working for the Washington office now his father had retired. He was living in the house that had been left to him by his grandparents. It used to be too big for just him alone.

"Good", Danny said as he pulled away. "Been spending too much time in the office, sitting on my ass lately though."

"He's convinced that it isn't healthy for him", Sam said in a mocking tone.

"Well…" Elena smiled and turned her head to run her eyes over Danny, "…you look pretty healthy to me…"

"It makes my back hurt", Danny grumbled.

"You wanna come back?" Jack asked sounding amused. "I could use a good agent, because I keep losing my good people. No desk work, I promise; lots of chasing suspects, getting shot at and…"

"No, thanks", Danny said laughing.

Sam had told him that Jack was constantly complaining that his agents were leaving, but they all knew that it wasn't because he afraid of having to run his team with lots of rookies; he was just missing his friends. He just wouldn't admit it.

Jack smiled. "Nah… I was joking. I'm glad you're happy."

Danny nodded. He was happy. He had Sam. Of course, it wasn't always easy; they fought from to time, well, quite a lot actually, but the making up was always fun…

And he had his job. It had been difficult at the beginning and things hadn't gone exactly the way he wanted them to, but he wasn't one to give up easily, and he couldn't help feeling that now he was exactly where he had always dreamt of being.

The spent a nice evening together. It was just a little Christmas party but for Danny it felt like more than that. He took a look around, resting his eyes for a moment on each member of his former team, finding himself feeling uncharacteristically emotional. He tapped his glass to get their attention then raised his glass:

"Merry Christmas!"

………………

Auhtor's Notes: And this I want to say to all of you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME!

Make someone smile because that's what Christmas is about. And that is why I wanted to achieve by writing this story. I hope could make some of you smile, because if I could it makes it all worth it!

If you want to, you can look out for the next chapter of '_Another Cold Case'_; no promises but I hope I can get it up before New's Year's Eve!


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